'My conscience is clear' - Suarez hits back as diving row continues

The Liverpool forward, now left as the club's only senior striker following Fabio Borini's injury, has responded to growing criticism and says he will respond on the pitch

Liverpool forward Luis Suarez has insisted his "conscience is clear" after a week in which he has been heavily criticised for diving, following the Reds' 0-0 draw with Stoke at Anfield.

Speaking after the game, Potters' boss Tony Pulis called for the Uruguay international to be punished while on Thursday Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce singled out the Reds man in a diatribe about simulation, which he described as a “cancer” on the game.

Suarez has received support both from Liverpool and the Uruguayan Football Association, but insists that the criticism does not bother him.

"Let them keep talking. My conscience is clean. I respond on the pitch," he told the Daily Express.

However, the forward did concede that his attitude on the pitch must improve, but put it down to his "anxiety" to perform well for his team.

“As the years go by you realise what you have to correct. I am 25 and there are things I must improve, like my attitude on the pitch," he added.

“But that is how I have played since I was a kid. I try to correct it, but there are times when my anxiety makes me play that way.

“Everyone knows I gesture a lot, talk and protest, and those are things I must improve on.”

The pressure on Suarez to avoid bookings for simulation and dissent was increased on Thursday by Fabio Borini’s foot fracture, which leaves the Uruguay international as Liverpool’s only fit senior centre forward.